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A new trash trap is coming to town — the Town of Smithfield.

On Tuesday night, the Smithfield Town Council voted unanimously to approve a trash trap on Spring Branch, which will make a total of 12 traps in Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers fleet.

“We chose that location because it’s hydrologically suitable; it’s the right channel size; has the right flows; and drains about a square mile of downtown Smithfield,” said Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop. “It’s an urban waterway that drains a lot of the town’s impervious surface.”

Samantha gave a 5-minute presentation to the council about how trash traps work to capture trash floating downstream, which is then removed and disposed of correctly by teams of volunteers. She said she fielded a few, good questions from councilmembers.

“People were wanting more information about what this innovative technology would do for their city, and they also wanted to know about the financing and who was going to maintain it,” she said. “But they are tentatively stoked about it, and that’s good.”

According to Samantha, Spring Branch is ideal location for trash trap No. 12 as it’s already undergone stream restoration, courtesy of North Carolina Land and Water Fund grant. Nearby is a community garden.

“It’s visible. People will see it, and we like that,” she said.

The plan is to install the Spring Branch trash trap early next year. The next step, however, is gather volunteers in the area who want to help keep Spring Branch (and the Neuse River) litter-free.

“We desperately need volunteers in Smithfield,” Samantha said. “So if anyone is interested, let us know!”

Sound Rivers’ launched its Litter-Free Rivers program in early 2024, just a year after the first trash trap was installed on Jack’s Creek in Washington. Since, traps have been installed on Duffyfield Canal in New Bern, Little Rock Creek in Raleigh, Adkin Branch in Kinston, Greens Mill Run in Greenville, East Tarboro Canal in Tarboro, a tributary of Jack’s Creek in Washington, Marsh Creek in Raleigh and Little Creek in Clayton.

Though Litter-Free Rivers, Sound Rivers and an army of volunteers removed 3 tons of trash from waterways across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico in 2024. More than a ton has been removed in 2025.

Like Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program? Donate today to keep your waterways Litter-Free!

We’d also love your help with a trash trap cleanout! See when the next ones are scheduled here!

And your group (civic, friend, family, school, church, scout, etc.) can volunteer to Adopt A Trash Trap for a month of monitoring and cleanouts. Visit our Adopt A Trash Trap page to find out how!